Improvement in windmills



@chatte ALEXANDER R. RANDAL,

or AVOLA, MISSOURI.

Letters Patent No. 109,545, dated November 22, 1870.

IMPRovEMEN'r IN wiNDNnLLs.

The Schedule referred to ln these Letters Patent and making part ol' the seme.

To all whom 'it may concern Be it known that I, ALExANDEn 1t. ltAxDAL, of Avola, in the county of Vernon and State of Missouri, have invented a new and improved Windmill; and

- I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear,

and exact description of the same, reference heilig had to the accompanying drawing making a part ot' this specification, in which- Y Figure l is a front elevation of the wheel;

Figure 2 is a sideelevation of the same; and

Figure 3 is a sectional elevation of the spring-barrel and verge-wheel, which form parts of my second incohanism for operating the sails.

rlhis invention relates to a wind-wheel in which the. sails are hinged upon the spokes, and connected with springs, in such a manner that they may be set so as to bear a wind-pressure et' any desired number of pounds,

and swing bac-k whenever the pressure exceeds thisnuxn-v ber, so as to practically contract the snrt'ace on which the wind acts, and atthe same time enlarge'the spaces between thc sails through which the wind passes, thus getting rid of the surplus pressure of the saine, the vsails returning to the position in which they were set whenever said surplus pressure ceases.

In the drawinga is a wheel, made of any desired size, and fixed on the end ofa horizontal shaft, b, from which shaft 'the motion derived bythe wheel from the wind is coinniunicatcd to the machinery to be driven.

'lo cach spoke c of the wheel a sail, (l, is hinged at one edge. 4 v

'lo enable the sails to yield before the surplus power of the wind, two mechanisms, differing in arrangement but alike in principle, are shown in the drawing, eac-h of which l will describe separately. l

The first system consists of a spring-bar, c, one end of' which is iliade fast to the sail d, near thc edge ot' the same, that is, adjacent to the wheel-spoke, while the opposite end ofthe spring is frcc, and lies against the sail when iu a stato ot' rest; and a cord, f, which is fastened at one extremity to the .free end of the spring e, passes thence over a sheavc, 7i, that is fixed on a shaft which is secured to the outer edge of the wheel-rim a, thence under a second shcave, i, that is placed on a ring, L', secured to the outer side ot' the wheel, within the rim and concentric with the same, whence the cord passes along the shaft l), between the spokes ofthe wheel a, until it meets, and is attached at its other extremity to a ring', that loosely encircles the shaft.

lhe ring] is furnished with trunnions, that enter slots formed in the branches ofa forked lever, m., that ineloscs the ring, said lever being jointed at one end to a brace, n, which is fastened at one extremity to one of the spokes o, and at theother extremity to theshaft 1 1, a second brace, o, heilig similarly fixed 011 the opposite side of the shaft b, and being serrated at one edge, as shown in fig. 2, so as to form a rack, in any one ofthe teeth of which the handle r of the forked lever may rest and be held. The spring c may, of course, be vmade of any desired strength. v

It is obvious that the nearer the sails are together, or, in other words, the smaller the opening between the free edge ot' one and the' adjacent hinged edge of the next in rear, the greater will be the wind-pressure upon each sail. 'lhe minimum size of the opening y'should be about twenty-twoand one-halfdegrees'from, vthe wheel, and stops, s, are provided, extending from thev wheel-rim, to prevent the sails from closing on the. same. v

The -sails may be adjusted at any desired angle; iu other words, so as to receive any desired degree of wind-lnessure, by means of 'the lever m and` cords'j'. 0n movingl the lcrer toward the wheel, all the cords f are loosened at onen-,and to' tho same extent, and On moving the.

the sails fall away from thewheel. lever away fi'oln the wheels the contraiv resulttakes place.

lt will be found convenientto mark on each tooth of the notched brace o the number of pounds of press` ure the sails arel subject to when the lever` is resting against that too-th. Whenever that pressure is exceeded by the actual force ofthe wind, the sail swings backward, cnlargcs the opening between it and the adjacent sail, and at the same time decreases the extent t'smf'ace on which the wind acts. On the cessation of the excess of pressure, the spring brings the lsail up to its former position.

lhc foregoing is a l'uil description of the first mechanisin.

lThe second system differs from the first only in the construction and arrangement of the springs. Instead of the elastic bar c, a coiled spring, t, fig. 3, is employed, the saine heilig stowed within a barrel, u, around a shaft, r, that is mounted in standards, 1e ze, which p'ro-v jcctfrom the rhnofthe wheel d.

From one end ol the barrel u a windlass, j, projects outside and upon the shaft r. Around the wiudlass the cord fis wound. lhe subsequent arrangement of the cord j' is the saine as in the first system.

'lhe barrel u and wiinllassj are loose on the shaft e.

A verge-wheel, a', is fixed on the'shaft e, at the opposite cndot' the barrel from the windlass j, and around the vcrge-u-'heel is wound a cord, q, whose other extremity is fastened to the sail. The natural tendency of the coiled spring t is to draw the sail, with a force proportioned, to its strength, by means of the vergewhcel and cord a, toward the wheel.

0n moving the lever m toward the wheel it allows the spring t to uncoil, and consequently diminishes its resisting capacity, so that the sail will the sooner yield before the wind. On moving the lever m away from the wheel it coils the spring t, thus increasing the resisting capacity of the sail.

The farther the sail is from the wheel a the greater is the leverage with which it acts upon the vergewheel, because then lthe cord q draws upon the larger` part ofthe verge-wheel. But as the sail recedes from the wheel a, the coiled spring t tightens, so that it is necessary that the leverage ol' the cord q should inerla-se in order to counteract the increasing tension of the spring upon the sail.

The springs of either of the ahovedescrihed systems of mechanism maybe loosened by properly moving the lever, to such an extent that the slightest pressure of wind will open the sails without moving the wheel.

Besides the foregoing, other arrangements, operating on thesame principle, may be adopted for regnlating the sails. I do not limit myself to any one method.

f, spring` t, barrel and windlass uj,verge-wl1eelx,ring

I, and lever m, in the manner specified.

2. The arrangement ofthe wheel (l, wing d, cord q, spring t, barrel u, and verge-wheel x, for the discharge of the separate function of eounteraeting the increasing tension of the spring by the increasing leverage ot' the cord q upon the verge-wheel, substantially as described.

To the above specification of my invention I have signed my name, this 27th day of August, A. D. 187i).

ALEXANDER R. RANDAL.

Witnesses:

J. H. BLAKE, J. E. German. 

